Something Random
- Thread starter ddrueding
- Start date
ddrueding
Fixture
Didn't dissapear, just compressed. Look at the sub-forums.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
If the TV show 24 had occurred last decade.
Will Rickards
Storage Is My Life
Have we determined why LunarMist's life is ruined?
I'd hate to see this issue get lost in this fast moving thread.
I'd hate to see this issue get lost in this fast moving thread.
Gilbo
Storage is cool
I LOVE XKCD. For those who haven't been before, make sure to mouse over the image to see the image comments; there's often a second joke, but sometimes the comment is crucial to getting the most out of the comic. If your browser shortens the comment with a "..." examine the page's code to find the comment --it's usually worth it.
A couple old favourites of mine:
Orphaned Projects
Commitment
Action Movies
With apologies to Robert Frost
Nostalgia
A-minus-minus
And my all time favourite:
RTFM
XKCD also has the occasional, slightly corny, romantic comic. I really like those personally, but I stuck with straight-up funny above. This is one of my favourites from the romantic style.
Will Rickards
Storage Is My Life
Wasted way too much time on that site this afternoon.
But this strip was worth it.
But this strip was worth it.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
That's great.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
The guy who writes xkcd is 22 years old and is described as a former NASA roboticist, if that tells you anything. xkcd has also displaced Penny Arcade as the most widely read webcomic. xkcd also has several sub-sites, Wetriffs (Not Safe for Work), a demonstration of Rule #34. The other sites are The Fairest, the Cutest and The Funniest. They're all a decent way to waste some time.
I love sequential art in almost any form and as far as comic strips go, I think pretty much all the best work is at this point being done on the web. xkcd is a wonderful example, but I really got into Achewood in a big way. Chris Onstead, the person who writes it, actually maintains blogs for most of the characters in the strip (all of whom are stuffed or live animals who live in kind of a parallel world where humans exist but are never seen). Onstead also writes a lot about his personal experiences as an epicure, and he does so in a way that is interesting and accessible on its on merit. Achewood is well worth reading. Start from the beginning.
I'm also a big fan of the Perry Bible Fellowship and Cyanide and Happiness, both of which exist to serve a sense of humor that is profoundly black and utterly lacking in newspaper funnies.
Tiny Ghosts take a different tack, using photos and captions in a strip format to make simple and profound statements.
Sexy Losers (incredibly not safe for work) features characters including a serial necrophiliac and a blow-up sex doll given life. It is wrong on every level, and that's what makes it funny. The cartoonist is no longer working on it, so unlike most of thee, it can be read in its entirety.
More traditional serial comics which follow a regular cast of human characters who do not kill each other regularly yet manage to remain entertaining are Something Positive and Questionable Content. I'm also fond of The Devil's Panties (completely safe for work despite weird name), but that may have something to do with the fact that I've met the cartoonist several times and she is a tiny, adorable redhead.
I tend to find a webcomic and read it from the beginning until I'm current on it. This can at times represent a problem, since for some of those strips I read them quite a while ago but have no idea where I left off. Whatever. It's still fun to read and to find new ones to read.
I love sequential art in almost any form and as far as comic strips go, I think pretty much all the best work is at this point being done on the web. xkcd is a wonderful example, but I really got into Achewood in a big way. Chris Onstead, the person who writes it, actually maintains blogs for most of the characters in the strip (all of whom are stuffed or live animals who live in kind of a parallel world where humans exist but are never seen). Onstead also writes a lot about his personal experiences as an epicure, and he does so in a way that is interesting and accessible on its on merit. Achewood is well worth reading. Start from the beginning.
I'm also a big fan of the Perry Bible Fellowship and Cyanide and Happiness, both of which exist to serve a sense of humor that is profoundly black and utterly lacking in newspaper funnies.
Tiny Ghosts take a different tack, using photos and captions in a strip format to make simple and profound statements.
Sexy Losers (incredibly not safe for work) features characters including a serial necrophiliac and a blow-up sex doll given life. It is wrong on every level, and that's what makes it funny. The cartoonist is no longer working on it, so unlike most of thee, it can be read in its entirety.
More traditional serial comics which follow a regular cast of human characters who do not kill each other regularly yet manage to remain entertaining are Something Positive and Questionable Content. I'm also fond of The Devil's Panties (completely safe for work despite weird name), but that may have something to do with the fact that I've met the cartoonist several times and she is a tiny, adorable redhead.
I tend to find a webcomic and read it from the beginning until I'm current on it. This can at times represent a problem, since for some of those strips I read them quite a while ago but have no idea where I left off. Whatever. It's still fun to read and to find new ones to read.
Will Rickards
Storage Is My Life
I leased a new car - mazda6. Story follows for those interested, it is a longish post.
Wednesday Night:
On the drive home the service engine soon light came on in my 1999 saturn SL2. Then when I went to turn into the shared driveway and had to reverse, the car would not reverse. Which led to me going the wrong way down a one way street. Spent the night fretting over what to do.
Thursday:
Called the saturn dealer to ask how much a new transmission was. They said like $1700 for a refurb or from another working saturn or something. New one was like $3500 or so. The car wouldn't sell for that much. I looked at the kelly blue book values for trade-in and dealer sale price and private sale. The saturn service tech suggested I come in an trade it in on a new car.
I decided it was end of the month so just go buy/lease a new car. I didn't want a saturn. Nothing against them really aside from being domestic. I liked the look of the mazdas, so I spent the morning researching the RX-8 and the other cars they had there and the lease/buy specials that were in effect. About noon I went to the dealership and traded in my saturn on the mazda 6. At first they wanted to give me 1100 for the saturn. I negotiated it up to 1500. The kelly blue book trade-in value for fair condition of that vehicle is 2600.
My car needed a new transmission so I think I did okay. Probably not as high as I would have gotten if I went to a saturn dealership. They had a lease offer on the mazda3 for 129/mo for 24 months with 10500 miles/yr and 2189 down. I test drive the mazda 3 base model that they advertised (only 1 on the lot). Nice enough for my commute though no power windows or locks. He writes it up. It was closer to 177/mo and that is with me putting 1500 additional down for a total of 3000 cash and trade-in. Something was wrong there. He said tax and tags aren't included in the advertised offer and they added up to like another $1000. I wasn't putting another 1K down. And I couldn't pay that much per month for a 14K dollar car. Doesn't make any sense. If I'm going to pay close to $200/mo I want power windows and lots of other nice stuff. So he writes up the mazda6, a 21K dollar car, and it is 189/mo. I looked at the deal and there was already a good cap cost reduction, so I did it. Without even really looking over the mazda6. Normally I wouldn't walk into the dealership like this. I'm not sure how well I did. I came pretty prepared for the mazda3 or the RX-8 but didn't have my research on the 6. And I forgot to check the leaseguide site to get the lease calculation formula and to bring my calculator pen and paper.
Friday:
Day after realizations. One I forgot bluetooth. But they don't even offer it on their sedans. Only the suv/mini-vans. Second the version I got doesn't have side mirrors that fold in. This is killer. I live in a row home and cars line both sides of the one way street. Side mirrors are always getting broken off if not folded in. I park my car in the driveway anyway so it isn't that big of a deal. But I feel pretty dumb for not looking closer at the car. I was rushing myself. I got there maybe 12:30pm and I had to get back before 3pm to take my kid to a doctor's appt. They didn't even have any RX-8 on the lot to test drive. WTF? But they are all manual transmission anyway and I don't know how to drive a manual transmission so it would have been crazy to try to drive one anyway. And the car seats might not fit in the back...
It is nice to have a car with no transmission issues. I suspected them in the saturn but could never really prove them. The mazda 6 accelerates nicely. It is kind of harder to maintain say 45 versus 50 miles/hr. The car wants to go faster and the odometer seems to make those 5 mile/hr increments blend in. I like the acceleration. Not as great off the gate as the saturn was maybe. Not sure. I think it revs up to much in the beginning. If I adjust my gas pedal patterns it should alleviate those problems. But I kind of like to push my cars. The car has child seat anchors bottom and top, which is nice. But anchoring that car seat was a huge PIA. But it doesn't move really at all now which is good. It has a center console to rest my elbow on which is good. The saturn SL2 didn't have one and sometimes my right arm wouldn't know where to rest. No good place for my change though. The center of the dash with the cd player et all seems more complicated than it should be. I figured it out easily enough but the wife took a bit more time to figure it out. I like the way it looks. It is dark grey. They had that or black.
It'll make a good commuter car for the next 2 years.
Wednesday Night:
On the drive home the service engine soon light came on in my 1999 saturn SL2. Then when I went to turn into the shared driveway and had to reverse, the car would not reverse. Which led to me going the wrong way down a one way street. Spent the night fretting over what to do.
Thursday:
Called the saturn dealer to ask how much a new transmission was. They said like $1700 for a refurb or from another working saturn or something. New one was like $3500 or so. The car wouldn't sell for that much. I looked at the kelly blue book values for trade-in and dealer sale price and private sale. The saturn service tech suggested I come in an trade it in on a new car.
I decided it was end of the month so just go buy/lease a new car. I didn't want a saturn. Nothing against them really aside from being domestic. I liked the look of the mazdas, so I spent the morning researching the RX-8 and the other cars they had there and the lease/buy specials that were in effect. About noon I went to the dealership and traded in my saturn on the mazda 6. At first they wanted to give me 1100 for the saturn. I negotiated it up to 1500. The kelly blue book trade-in value for fair condition of that vehicle is 2600.
My car needed a new transmission so I think I did okay. Probably not as high as I would have gotten if I went to a saturn dealership. They had a lease offer on the mazda3 for 129/mo for 24 months with 10500 miles/yr and 2189 down. I test drive the mazda 3 base model that they advertised (only 1 on the lot). Nice enough for my commute though no power windows or locks. He writes it up. It was closer to 177/mo and that is with me putting 1500 additional down for a total of 3000 cash and trade-in. Something was wrong there. He said tax and tags aren't included in the advertised offer and they added up to like another $1000. I wasn't putting another 1K down. And I couldn't pay that much per month for a 14K dollar car. Doesn't make any sense. If I'm going to pay close to $200/mo I want power windows and lots of other nice stuff. So he writes up the mazda6, a 21K dollar car, and it is 189/mo. I looked at the deal and there was already a good cap cost reduction, so I did it. Without even really looking over the mazda6. Normally I wouldn't walk into the dealership like this. I'm not sure how well I did. I came pretty prepared for the mazda3 or the RX-8 but didn't have my research on the 6. And I forgot to check the leaseguide site to get the lease calculation formula and to bring my calculator pen and paper.
Friday:
Day after realizations. One I forgot bluetooth. But they don't even offer it on their sedans. Only the suv/mini-vans. Second the version I got doesn't have side mirrors that fold in. This is killer. I live in a row home and cars line both sides of the one way street. Side mirrors are always getting broken off if not folded in. I park my car in the driveway anyway so it isn't that big of a deal. But I feel pretty dumb for not looking closer at the car. I was rushing myself. I got there maybe 12:30pm and I had to get back before 3pm to take my kid to a doctor's appt. They didn't even have any RX-8 on the lot to test drive. WTF? But they are all manual transmission anyway and I don't know how to drive a manual transmission so it would have been crazy to try to drive one anyway. And the car seats might not fit in the back...
It is nice to have a car with no transmission issues. I suspected them in the saturn but could never really prove them. The mazda 6 accelerates nicely. It is kind of harder to maintain say 45 versus 50 miles/hr. The car wants to go faster and the odometer seems to make those 5 mile/hr increments blend in. I like the acceleration. Not as great off the gate as the saturn was maybe. Not sure. I think it revs up to much in the beginning. If I adjust my gas pedal patterns it should alleviate those problems. But I kind of like to push my cars. The car has child seat anchors bottom and top, which is nice. But anchoring that car seat was a huge PIA. But it doesn't move really at all now which is good. It has a center console to rest my elbow on which is good. The saturn SL2 didn't have one and sometimes my right arm wouldn't know where to rest. No good place for my change though. The center of the dash with the cd player et all seems more complicated than it should be. I figured it out easily enough but the wife took a bit more time to figure it out. I like the way it looks. It is dark grey. They had that or black.
It'll make a good commuter car for the next 2 years.
ddrueding
Fixture
I've been looking at Mazdas recently myself. The Mazdaspeed3 seems to be the best bang-for-the-buck in the <30k market.
It's strange. When I am in my car driving and thinking of what I want, all I want is a couple year-old benz with adaptive cruise control and a quiet ride. When I'm at home looking around online I keep looking at RX-8, Miata, Evo, etc.
It's strange. When I am in my car driving and thinking of what I want, all I want is a couple year-old benz with adaptive cruise control and a quiet ride. When I'm at home looking around online I keep looking at RX-8, Miata, Evo, etc.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
ddrueding
Fixture
Poor undereducated me could only average a 36. Max @ 41.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
46 high, 43 average at 1800 grains.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Learning that 50 is the high makes me want to get to 50.
Tannin
Storage? I am Storage!
Freerice is dangerously addictive. I love words (as witness my stupid post count here, among other places). But I had work to do so I got Tea and the Grammar Police to have a crack at it. They got to 48 max, but kept bouncing back down to 47.
A strange thing: I had a quick look at home this morning and was sitting on 40-odd practically right away (after just a handful of questions) but when we had another look just now had to start at 9 or 10 or something really low and move really slowly up through heaps of boring ones, three answers in a row required to go to the next level. How come it didn't do tht the first time?
A strange thing: I had a quick look at home this morning and was sitting on 40-odd practically right away (after just a handful of questions) but when we had another look just now had to start at 9 or 10 or something really low and move really slowly up through heaps of boring ones, three answers in a row required to go to the next level. How come it didn't do tht the first time?
Tea
Storage? I am Storage!
Level 48 is hard!
Well, I decided to write some poetry. Here goes...
I Got Pieces That Have Never Been Close To One Another
(Ok, T-Bone, time for some serious crunching...)
I'm using Windows, Windows
Windows three eighty six,
so all my applications
are running at once.
My report right now
is scattered all over my disc,
wo-wo Windows will pull these parts
together real quick.
I got pieces in one spreadsheet
I got pieces in another,
I got pieces that have never been
close to one another.
Some are in the database
where things are pretty stuffy,
some are in the word processor
that's were it gets fluffy.
Wo-wo Windows, wo-wo Windows
Windows three eighty six,
will pull these parts together
and do it mighty quick.
I'll cut'n'paste, cut'n'paste
until it's in PageMaker,
then I'll slick it up to be
T-Bone's Heartbreaker.
Here's the spreadsheet data you asked for, Linda.
William!
Linda?
Uh oh. These are 123 files. THAT doesn't look like 123!
It's na-na not
one two two-two three
but don't worry William,
just hand the disc to me.
I got several applications,
looking mighty slick,
running under Windows
three eighty six.
In one of the windows,
I got one two two-two three,
running at the same time
as the others can't you see.
I can cut'n'paste your files
into my report ,
or I can make them look better
with Microsoft Chart.
Choice is, choice is
choice is what I got,
now I'm gonna show you how
to make the thing look HOT!
Up in Accounting, nothing ever looks hot.
Stand back William
stand back in the back,
Windows three eighty six
is on the at-tack!
WOWWWWWWWWW!
I Got Pieces That Have Never Been Close To One Another
(Ok, T-Bone, time for some serious crunching...)
I'm using Windows, Windows
Windows three eighty six,
so all my applications
are running at once.
My report right now
is scattered all over my disc,
wo-wo Windows will pull these parts
together real quick.
I got pieces in one spreadsheet
I got pieces in another,
I got pieces that have never been
close to one another.
Some are in the database
where things are pretty stuffy,
some are in the word processor
that's were it gets fluffy.
Wo-wo Windows, wo-wo Windows
Windows three eighty six,
will pull these parts together
and do it mighty quick.
I'll cut'n'paste, cut'n'paste
until it's in PageMaker,
then I'll slick it up to be
T-Bone's Heartbreaker.
Here's the spreadsheet data you asked for, Linda.
William!
Linda?
Uh oh. These are 123 files. THAT doesn't look like 123!
It's na-na not
one two two-two three
but don't worry William,
just hand the disc to me.
I got several applications,
looking mighty slick,
running under Windows
three eighty six.
In one of the windows,
I got one two two-two three,
running at the same time
as the others can't you see.
I can cut'n'paste your files
into my report ,
or I can make them look better
with Microsoft Chart.
Choice is, choice is
choice is what I got,
now I'm gonna show you how
to make the thing look HOT!
Up in Accounting, nothing ever looks hot.
Stand back William
stand back in the back,
Windows three eighty six
is on the at-tack!
WOWWWWWWWWW!
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Tea
Storage? I am Storage!
.NUT, haven't you heard? You are not allowed to be on Mars!
Tea
Storage? I am Storage!
Did you write that yourself, .NUT? Sounds awfully familiar. Rather like .... like a link YOU posted right here on SF.
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
For David,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi4fzvQ6I-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi4fzvQ6I-o
ddrueding
Fixture
Excelent.
ddrueding
Fixture
I haven't been out surfing in many years, but it's amazing how big the "ridable" waves are getting nowadays. Of course, I consider getting towed-in cheating, and the last guy to paddle into such waves dies trying (at age 45!).
ddrueding
Fixture
Yay 2k for Mark and Fushigi!
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
Wow. I hadn't even noticed. 'fraid I concentrate more on Folding contributions than post count. 
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
That is undoubtedly a very good number of posts to have.
ddrueding
Fixture
Been a bit depressed lately. No action around here, either. Heading out for a drive, and I hope to complete the gift shopping.
udaman
Wannabe Storage Freak
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1,209
I suppose it's all relative. I saw a quickie report on the nightly news on TV (I know, DD doesn't watch TV, which is probably a good thing as if he watched the nightly news he'd probably be suicidal, lol). One of the networks sent a crew for God knows how much money, to China to do this very short story about the staggering disparity from bottom to top of China's population of 1.3B, using the Yellow/Yangzee river as a focus point. The yellow river, so many residents displaced with the damning to provide hydropower, the average 700million rural farm worker makes $700 annually (or was it $400?), while in a little unknown (to most of us outsiders) city midway down that river Chingziang, Chongzian...eh, I forget how to spell it in English, is the worlds most populated city at 30 million. 30second interview with missing teeth construction worker who makes $1700 annual building highrise appartment buildings, but he cannot afford to live in these as condo prices are ~$100k. Then we hit Shanghai, land of the neuvo riche (French sp?). Wealth Chinese in that most bustling modern city, have million dollar homes, *must* play golf on weekends, these males playing golf, wealthy Chinese are wagering $6k per hole in a compettion. Interviews English speaking wealthy Chinese businessman about this huge wage gap. His response is total indifference, "its China, no it doesn't bother me". Not really sure what the point of the story was, but damn, why didn't they pay me to do that story, I would have done it for less pay
So my mother trying to get into pants this past weekend (8 days ago) as she had done all her life, one leg at a time, bent over. But like some younger people she stumbled on one leg, fell on the wood floor, and hurt her back. But she's very old, suffers from osteopirosis/brittle bones. A week later she is still in pain, hasn't had it X-rayed yet, but it could be another vertebrae fracture
. I took her to see her internist (who did not prescribe an X-ray, but instead did some physical exam which caused my mother lots of pain) and on the way to the office she said "I think my time is about up", in a defeatist, depressed mode recently. I told her not to talk like that.What does DD have to be depressed about recently, you're only 27? Wait until you hit 3x that age, then you have something to really be upset about.
Hey everyone, do not let this holiday season get you down, make it through to another year!!! (Or party now, like it's 1999...as Prince would say/sing)
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I've been a little depressed since turning 32 and still sucking at life.
Plus the fact that I have 10 ~16 hour days working at my trainer job because of shit that is other people's fault, and, well, I'm a little annoyed.
Plus the fact that I have 10 ~16 hour days working at my trainer job because of shit that is other people's fault, and, well, I'm a little annoyed.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
I hope you get overtime for that.
I don't get OT, so I make it a point to work only the amount of hours that I am supposed to work. If I have to stay a couple hours late one day, I will leave early for the rest of the week. My company also requires me to punch in and out, so they know exactly how many hours I am here. I never work less hours than I am supposed to.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I don't get OT. I'm a salaried employee.
My time in the office is technically flexible, so I kind of come and go as I please, but I stay late a lot because the things I need to do can't always be done when there are other people around.
Deploying a dual boot XP/Vista setup is an utter nightmare. That is all I'm going to say.
My time in the office is technically flexible, so I kind of come and go as I please, but I stay late a lot because the things I need to do can't always be done when there are other people around.
Deploying a dual boot XP/Vista setup is an utter nightmare. That is all I'm going to say.
ddrueding
Fixture
Touching on a few of the things said above.
An income gap is important in a society. Just as important is a way to move up the ladder. Those two combined are the competition that keeps the workforce efficient.
Udaman, Sorry to hear about your mother. My grandmother has begun talking about the same things. She's opting out of procedures and leaving things unchecked, saying "it will outlast me". IIRC, she's 84.
Merc, There is no way that working that kind of hours in an exempt job is ok. Even in SF during the bubble when I was fairly high up in a .com, we would still comp people if they were pulling those kinds of hours regularly.
I'd imagine the biggest problem with deploying a dual-boot setup is having to support both OSes, no?
An income gap is important in a society. Just as important is a way to move up the ladder. Those two combined are the competition that keeps the workforce efficient.
Udaman, Sorry to hear about your mother. My grandmother has begun talking about the same things. She's opting out of procedures and leaving things unchecked, saying "it will outlast me". IIRC, she's 84.
Merc, There is no way that working that kind of hours in an exempt job is ok. Even in SF during the bubble when I was fairly high up in a .com, we would still comp people if they were pulling those kinds of hours regularly.
I'd imagine the biggest problem with deploying a dual-boot setup is having to support both OSes, no?
After a few tries it seems that if one answers four in a row correctly in the beginning one gets to start at level 40. After that it's three corrects to go up and one wrong to go down...
So my best score is 41, but if I go down to 1 I can hardly manage to get it up to 20... :sqnt:
Cheers,
Jan
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
I found the same thing. I got to 41 for my high score as well. I think their algorithm needs some work.
paugie
Storage is cool
Last Friday I went to a clinic to ask about my "weakness" symptom. There are times, I just suddenly have to lie down and sleep. It's like, you know, having "to go". When you gotta go, you gotta go.
So this lady doctor asks me about it. I tell her. And she pokes around my back and chest with her stethoscope. Do I smoke, do I drink, that sort of thing.
Then she goes and asks another doctor. Later she tells me, could I go out to the waiting area and they'll call me again. I hear my name called and I get to see a heart doctor instead. She asks me the same questions and does the listening to the chest routine again.
"Well, it doesn't seem physical, she says", and prescribes me some "anti-anxiety" medicine. Later, the drugstore refuses to fill the prescription, because the drug is "restricted" and the doctor forgot to write down her license number and other details.
I guess I still am "anxious".
So this lady doctor asks me about it. I tell her. And she pokes around my back and chest with her stethoscope. Do I smoke, do I drink, that sort of thing.
Then she goes and asks another doctor. Later she tells me, could I go out to the waiting area and they'll call me again. I hear my name called and I get to see a heart doctor instead. She asks me the same questions and does the listening to the chest routine again.
"Well, it doesn't seem physical, she says", and prescribes me some "anti-anxiety" medicine. Later, the drugstore refuses to fill the prescription, because the drug is "restricted" and the doctor forgot to write down her license number and other details.
I guess I still am "anxious".